Friend or foe: U.'s Smith, Y.'s Watkins were once teammates

PROVO — Though it will be played on a bone-chilling evening on Saturday in Salt Lake City, this year's BYU-Utah game will have a bit of a San Diego flavor.

The Utes boast junior quarterback Alex Smith, a Heisman Trophy candidate who has guided the Utes to a 10-0 record and top-five ranking while the Cougars have wide receiver Todd Watkins, a junior college transfer who has made a big impact in his first season with 48 receptions, 1,000 receiving yards and five touchdowns.

Smith and Watkins hail from the San Diego area, where they were teammates at Helix High School. They know each other very well.

"It's a lot like my relationship with (quarterback) John Beck here," Watkins said. "We wanted to throw the rock. We wanted to go deep. We worked a lot on those deep balls, even back in high school."

"I consider myself pretty good friends with him," Smith said. "I'm good friends with his family. I know his parents, I know his sister, I know his brother. Obviously, I've been around his family for a while and played with him."

Yet the two players from opposite sides of the rivalry have not spoken to each other since the season began. Watkins said he's tried to get ahold of Smith, with no success.

"I talked to him over the summer. But after the season started, it kind of fell off. Maybe it's the rivalry or something between the schools," Watkins said. "I've called him a few times. He must be busy with that all Heisman hype he's getting. He's getting big-time."

During BYU's bye week in late October, Watkins returned to San Diego to watch Smith and the Utes beat San Diego State, 51-28. Wearing BYU garb head-to-toe, Watkins visited with Utah fans in Qualcomm Stadium. He expected to be razzed, but he said he was treated well by Ute supporters.

"It was surprising. Every Utah fan was nice. They even asked me why I don't play at the U. A ton of people were asking me that. I was really surprised. I didn't catch any grief from the fans."

Smith wasn't surprised that Watkins would mingle with U. fans while clad in BYU blue.

"Absolutely he's going to sport his colors in there," he said. "That's kind of his personality. He's probably going to try and rile people up."

Another Helix High product, Reggie Bush, a running back who now plays for No. 1 Southern California, is, like Smith, a Heisman candidate. The three players were on the same team for one season — when Watkins was a senior, Smith was a junior and Bush was a sophomore.